


In Which Everyone Meets In A Coffee Shop, Because Of Course I Wrote This

by yvesdot



Category: Forest Castles, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 01:30:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15875721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yvesdot/pseuds/yvesdot
Summary: Drabble where Avner finds three coffees with his name on them instead of one. Confusion and cuteness ensues.Don't know these characters?(read onwattpad.tumblr.)





	In Which Everyone Meets In A Coffee Shop, Because Of Course I Wrote This

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Forest Castles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15668031) by [yvesdot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yvesdot/pseuds/yvesdot). 



Avner looked at the counter. He had ordered one drink. He had ordered one drink, and he was only testing it out, because he still wasn’t sure he even really liked coffee.

But there they were: three separate strawberry frappuccinos, all bearing his name in black Sharpie. He considered them, looked around, and decided that leaving them wouldn’t do a significant amount of good, so instead he steeled himself and asked the barista for a drink tray.

There was an attractive man waiting for him at his table. And there was a woman who could have been considered attractive with almost any other facial expression behind him, crossing her arms.

“Hey,” said the attractive man, in a voice that implied he knew he was attractive and was just here to be mean about it.

“Hello,” Avner said, in a voice that implied he would rather be treated with care.

“I bought you a drink,” said the woman behind the man, sliding out a chair and sitting down in it. There hadn’t been very many chairs at their table to begin with, but now there were considerably fewer. Which is to say, none. And Avner was holding a drink tray.

 _"I_ bought you a drink,” said the man, and he grabbed a chair from a nearby table without asking. “Sit down.”

“Do some basic math,” said the woman. “We both bought him drinks, obviously.” She paused. “Unless you bought two of those yourself, which would be weird. I’m Eliza.”

“I’m Red,” said the guy, wiggling his fingers. Avner took a seat and slid the drink tray into the center of the table.

“I’m Avner,” he said, “but-- you already know that, apparently.” He glanced at his drinks. “And thank you. And we can share them, and, um--  _why?”_

“Because you’re cute,” both of them said in unison.

“Don’t plagiarize my brain!” Red snapped, looking somewhat genuinely irritated. Eliza raised an eyebrow; you see? Definitely attractive when she was making most faces. Her face was very square, to be sure, but maybe Avner liked square faces. Red, meanwhile, looked like he was trying to be as angular as possible.

“And we can’t share the drinks,” Eliza said, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “I’m lactose intolerant.”

“I’ll share with you,” Red said. “Put the cup in the middle.”

“Hey, wait--”

“You can share with  _separate cups!”_ Avner said, half-shouting. Someone from the next table over stopped writing their novel and looked over, blinking. “Because I now have  _three cups_ of the same drink, which I am not even sure I like!”

Red got up, very leisurely, and walked over to the little counter filled with assorted Helpful Items. He considered briefly, then took two packets of sugar and two straws before returning in the same loping way.

“Why did I just watch him do that,” Eliza asked, and Avner shrugged slightly. He couldn’t explain it, either. Red dropped everything lightly onto the table and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

“Why’d you order this, then?” he asked, stealing one of the cups. He held it in that precarious masculine way where you sort of wrap your fingers around the top, like you’re just waiting for the lid to pop off and spill pink whipped cream all over you. Then he tossed one straw to Avner and poked the other one directly through the hole in the lid with an obscene popping sound.

“I was told,” Avner said weakly, “to try Starbucks out. And I thought... maybe... it would be nice...”

He took a sip of his drink. It wasn’t awful. He had been told that this one would be sweet, but this was actually very nice. He took another sip, thinking. Eliza and Red seemed to be having a staring contest in the background.

“I’m sorry,” Red said, tearing his eyes away from Eliza, though Avner couldn’t figure out what precisely he was apologizing for. In any case, it was certainly warranted.

“Thank you,” he said, and Eliza took a sip of a fruity something-or-other that had been sitting on the table up until now. Avner blinked at her, taking another sip of his drink. “Is that...”

“Mine? No, it’s his. But anyway, I bought you a drink because you got the teeny size and you were rooting around in your wallet, so I figured you were trying to get the largest size possible without going broke, like a normal person.” She flipped her hair again. “I guess I was wrong.”

“I was trying to get rid of my change...” He sipped quietly out of his second cup; somehow this aspect of Starbucks had not been explained to him. Also, this was really not so bad. Very strawberry in places, and very creamy in others.

“I bought you a drink because you’re cute,” Red said, making a weird motion in the air with his hand. “That’s it. And you should drink your own drink,” he added somewhat mildly, looking up at Eliza. She slurped loudly. “Where is it?”

Eliza briefly stopped slurping.

“Forgot,” she muttered, and Red laughed so loudly that the writer from the other table looked up and frowned at everyone involved. “Shut up.”

“See, Avner?” Red said, and Avner had to admit that he was at least pronouncing it right, which was at times difficult for people. “Who do you want to go out with-- me, or this loser?”

“Right,” Eliza said. “This loser, or me?”

“Um,” Avner said, feeling like whatever he said, he’d end up being the loser after all.


End file.
